PARKER — He almost canceled the trip, the one that would decide his future.

Instead, Mitch Parsons pulled in the reins a bit. He listened to his parents, who were preaching patience. He took the trip to Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., two weeks ago, which ended up being the final official visit of an up-and-down recruitmening process. And before he returned to Colorado, Parsons committed to Vanderbilt.

Parsons, a four-star tight end at Chaparral High School, wasn't expecting to make a decision this late — nor was he expecting to have as many bumps along the road.

He originally committed to the University of Colorado last March and spent months trying to convince other recruits to do the same. He would often visit the CU campus to take in football practice or watch a basketball game. He'd go to Pearl Street.

"I was sold," Parsons said last week. "I loved Boulder."

But Parsons was sold on the upward trajectory of the program. He was sold on the fact that the would be competitive, even if the wins weren't there.

So when the wheels started to come off during the Buffaloes' 1-11 season, including a loss to FCS member Sacramento State and a 50-6 loss to Southern California, doubt crept in. Parsons decommitted Oct. 24. Three days later, CU lost to Oregon 70-14.

Parsons now says he rushed into the CU commitment.

"It was a decision for the rest of the life I was making, and I was 17," he said.

At the time, the CU coaches told Parsons they would continue to recruit him. The Buffs used to send Parsons four or five pieces of mail per day. He never heard from them again.

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"They kind of kicked me to the curb," Parsons said.

For two weeks, Parsons did his best to ignore the world, and he walked around Chaparral's halls with massive headphones on.

"Everyone had their opinion on everything," Parsons said. "I just didn't want to put up with it. So I went from class-to-class and went home."

The college football world wasn't ignoring him. Parsons heard from schools including Colorado State, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Washington, Michigan State, California and Oklahoma. CSU came on strong the day after he decommitted from CU, perhaps too strong. Still, the Rams let him know they had a spot for him.

Soon enough, Parsons planned official visits in early December to California and Washington. He knew he also wanted to see Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. He remained interested in CU, though coach Jon Embree was fired after the 2012 season.

As things moved forward, Parsons saw spots quickly filling up around him. Washington received a commitment from an in-state tight end, and stopped contacting him. That visit was off. California fired coach Jeff Tedford on Nov. 21. Parsons was due to visit the Bears on Dec. 7. That was off, too.

"What if I showed up, and they were like, 'Who are you?' " Parsons said, laughing.

But he had set up an official visit with Ole Miss for Nov. 23-25 to see the Rebels' rivalry game against Mississippi State. While there, Parsons was blown away by the attention. Ole Miss beat its archrival and fans rushed the field. It was a perfect weekend.

"He got absolutely enamored by the fact that he was walking through downtown Oxford and people were saying, 'Hey, Mitch, Hotty Toddy!' " said Parsons' father, Greg. "His mother and I, we told him going in that the ultimate decision was his, but we were just more concerned with how he goes about making that decision. We kept stressing to him that very few kids in this world get five trips where they're treated like royalty. We just said, before you make any decisions, you've got to give everybody a chance."

Mitch Parsons says he briefly felt like he had nowhere to go, but Vanderbilt reassured him that he had a place in Nashville, Tenn. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

By then, Parsons had also scheduled an official visit with Vanderbilt for Jan. 19. He was ready to commit to Ole Miss, and says he would have had his parents been on the trip — and if they "would have let me." Parsons even contemplated canceling the Vanderbilt trip.

"You get wowed," Parsons said. "It's like a vacation on your official visits. You don't pay for anything, everything is done for you. ... You have to realize that it's not how it's going to be when you're down there.

"Being a 17-, 18-year-old kid, you don't look that far ahead," he added. "It's, 'Oh, look at that pretty girl over there.' Right now. OK, I'm committing right now. That was a big challenge for me, and I was like, 'I want that now.' "

Parsons was going to return to Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 8 to give his mom, Kristen, a chance to see the campus. But that week, Ole Miss called and said they wanted him to grayshirt — meaning he'd delay his enrollment until January 2014.

"I wanted to go there so badly," Parsons said. "It was kind of a gutcheck. I was so upset about it. I was even telling my parents, 'I'll grayshirt.' "

But it was just the latest gutcheck. CU's new staff — Mike MacIntyre was hired Dec. 10 — didn't seem interested.

For a big-time national recruit — "We think he could be a really good tight end at the college level, and even beyond," said Mike Farrell, an analyst for the recruiting site Rivals.com — it was puzzling.

"I got real frustrated," Parsons said. "There were nights where I'd just get so mad — not mad, but just like, 'Why?' Everything was falling through. I didn't think I was going to have a spot to go."

In January, before the trip to Vanderbilt, Greg Parsons finally spoke to a CU assistant, who told him, "We thought (Mitch) committed to Ole Miss." The Buffs also told him they didn't have room for his son.

So Vanderbilt quickly became the front-runner. Because Chaparral had a basketball game on a Friday night — Parsons is averaging 7.1 points and 5.9 rebounds — he started his trip on a Saturday. And came down with the flu.

While there, Vanderbilt got a commitment from a junior college tight end.

"I was like, 'Well, I have nowhere to go,' " Parsons said.

But James Franklin, the Vanderbilt coach, told Parsons he had nothing to worry about.

"We offered you, then stuck with you through CU," Parsons said Franklin told him. "We stuck with you through Ole Miss. We still want you."

Parsons committed to the Commodores before his visit ended. He will report to campus June 2, his 18th birthday.

"I don't want to jump into a program and be another cog in the wheel," Parsons said. "I kind of want to be a foundation. I want to be part of that (at Vanderbilt)."

A look at The Denver Post's top 20 recruits for the Class of 2013 and the schools to which they are committed. The first day high school athletes can sign football letters of intent is Wednesday (*walk-on):